The Journal’s morning rundown of the biggest news stories and exclusive features from Washington on politics, policy, financial regulation, defense and more.

LOW SUPPORT FOR U.S.’S GLOBAL ROLE: As a showdown with Russia over the crisis in Ukraine preoccupies Washington, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds Americans in large numbers want the U.S. to reduce its role in world affairs. More than half of the poll’s respondents want the U.S. to be less active on the global stage, compared with fewer than one-fifth who want the U.S. to be more active. That anti-interventionist current marks a distinct shift from past decades and sweeps across party lines. Read More »

While President Barack Obama is a fan of the late Steve Jobs and has an iPad, he acknowledged Wednesday that he can’t participate in the iPhone revolution.

“Now, I am not allowed, for security reasons, to have an iPhone,” Mr. Obama told a group of young people while pitching his signature health-care law at the White House. But he said his daughters, Sasha and Malia, do have iPhones and “seem to spend a lot of time” using them.

Sam Dagher reports on the battle for control of Damascus, where Islamist rebels, including some with links to al Qaeda, are gaining strength in suburbs encircling the Syrian capital. Their strengthening illustrates how Islamist groups have again extended their influence at the expense of the more-moderate groups that led the early stirrings of rebellion against the regime. [WSJ | photo essay]

A survey of likely voters in the most competitive 2014 House districts shows Republicans still have a slight lead in the wake of the government shutdown, but also shows that 61% give a negative rating to Republicans in Congress a 12-point jump since June. Negative ratings of Democrats in Congress have remained fairly stable. The vote among senior citizens, a key GOP bloc, is tied in Republican battleground districts. [Democracy Corps] Read More »

President Barack Obama‘s top national security advisers met Wednesday with their German counterparts in an effort to calm an international uproar over revelations that the U.S. tapped German Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s cell phone, the White House said Wednesday.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest, traveling with the president aboard Air Force One to Boston, said the meeting is part of the White House’s efforts to “resolve some of the tension” caused by recent allegations that the U.S. National Security Agency was listening to Ms. Merkel’s phone conversations.

The White House has refused to confirm the reports, which have fueled a backlash in Germany and the U.S. about America’s surveillance programs. U.S. officials have said Mr. Obama was personally unaware that the U.S. was bugging the phones of Ms. Merkel and other world leaders… Read More »

WASHINGTON—The White House deflected questions from reporters Monday about a Wall Street Journal article that said President Barack Obama was unaware of the scope of the National Security Agency’s spying.

“I’m not going to get into details of internal discussions. But the president clearly feels strongly about making sure that we are not just collecting information because we can but because we should,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said. Read More »

CHICAGO — A top Senate Republican criticized the Obama administration, the National Security Agency and the U.S. security clearance system on Monday over the NSA’s program to spy on world leaders and the administration’s denials that President Barack Obama knew it was underway.

“If the executive did not know, it’s a mistake of both the people doing it not informing their superiors, and their superiors not questioning what was going on,” Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. McCain, attending a breakfast event at the City Club of Chicago, called for a congressional investigation following the revelation that the NSA spied on some 35 world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr. McCain also upbraided the administration and the American spy program for flawed oversight and broken communication processes. Read More »

WASHINGTON — Reports that U.S. intelligence agencies may have monitored the personal cellphone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel may have roiled Berlin, but security experts in Washington are barely batting an eye.

Experts contacted by the Journal agreed that the vulnerability of mobile devices makes them ripe targets for hackers and foreign spies, who wouldn’t need the cooperation of a user’s wireless provider to eavesdrop on their calls. Read More »

The Obama administration acknowledged revelations of international spying by the National Security Agency have strained ties with Germany and other important allies, but said it does not expect the relationships to suffer lasting harm.

“The revelations that have appeared of late have obviously caused tensions in our relationships with some countries, and we are dealing with that set of issues through diplomatic channels,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Thursday. Read More »

The White House said Wednesday that the U.S. isn’t listening in on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conversations and that it won’t in the future, but has avoided addressing whether U.S. intelligence agencies have in the past. Given another shot Thursday, President Barack Obama’s chief spokesman, Jay Carney, didn’t close the door on the possibility of earlier surveillance. Read More »

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.